a short story about a cat

Once upon a time there was a young couple who were expecting a baby.   One night early in the pregnancy, the hormonal wife was in tears.  She was telling the husband that she didn’t have any friends.    The husband left that evening and came back with…. A cat. 
The wife cried again because she didn’t have a clue what they were supposed to do with a cat in a small rental house.  Where would they put the litter box? 
After some convincing from the husband the cat was allowed to stay.   And that night, Q-tip became part of the family.

January 2000

Q-tip had seen the husband before.    Months prior, the husband had visited a family friend who had new kittens.   Q-tip was fuzzy and cute, and had caught the attention of the man.     Thankfully when the husband went looking for a “friend”, Q-tip was still available for adoption.

Q-tip quickly adjusted to living in the small home with the couple.  
Almost right away the couple agreed that Q-tip was not a manly enough name for such a cool male cat.      The “tip” was dropped and he was known simply as “Q”.

Q was young and playful.   The husband taught him tricks and roughhoused with him.    The couple joked about how Q was very much like a dog.   He would play fetch with small toy mice.   He would retrieve the mice and bring them back…. Every time.     Q was top-dog of the house.   He would hang around inside and sit outside and soak up sun.

Several months passed and Q was packed up and taken to a new house, just a few miles away.   He adjusted quickly to the new house and was glad to spend time with the couple.  The house was older, larger, and had large windows that gave puddles of sunshine for him to bathe in.   

One day, out of the blue, the couple brought home a small baby.   Q was curious about the new addition to the family but he welcomed the little boy and they became instant buddies.      Q hung out with the baby and the wife during the day and welcomed the husband home in the evenings.   

The husband had a fish aquarium that was stocked with many fish to watch.   He would hang around the house and sit outside and soak up the sun.

Two years passed.   The baby had grown into an active toddler.   He and the boy were good friends.   Q was still like a dog.   He would play games and entertain the toddler.
And then, out of the blue, the couple brought home another small baby.   Q welcomed the new baby and they, too, were instant friends.   Q was great around the little boys.   He tolerated all of the love that they had to offer.    

His days were full of playing with the boys, hanging around the house and sitting outside in the sunshine.

It came time for the family to move to another city.    Q was packed up and driven over an hour from home.     He arrived in tiny rental house that was nice and tidy.      He adjusted quickly and enjoyed keeping the family company.

At some point in the first few years…. No one remembers the actual date…. The couple decided that Q had matured.    They decided that “Mr. Q” would be a more fitting name for such a cat.     He was quite a character.    Mr. Q never met a stranger and he always enjoyed welcoming family and friends to the house.

Just six short months later, Mr. Q was packed up…. Again… and taken to a new house about 20 minutes away.     He was not thrilled about the car ride and he urinated all over the husband and the truck while they were in route.  
Mr. Q took his first, and only, shower that night after arriving at the new house.     Needless to say… he was not too thrilled about getting sprayed with water!
Thankfully he the survived shock and awe of the move.
The family of four, and Mr. Q adjusted quickly to the new house and a new, big yard.     Mr. Q enjoyed playing with the boys, hanging around the house and sitting in the sunshine.

For three years, the family and Mr. Q lived in the house with the big yard.   They were happy and made several friends who spent a lot of time at the house.   Mr. Q made friends with an older couple who lived in the house next to his.    He was often found visiting with the neighbors and even enjoyed naps in their house!  

 

The time came for the family to move again, back to their home city.   Mr. Q was packed up and taken on another long ride.     He arrived at a small brick house, similar to the one he had just left.      Mr. Q adjusted quickly, because he knew that he was ‘home’ with the husband, wife and boys.    He kept the boys company, often sleeping curled up on their beds at night.    

One October night, just a few short months after moving to the new house, Mr. Q was outside minding his own business…when a neighbor’s dogs came charging over and chased him up a tree.    The event was obviously terrifying for Mr. Q.    The scare of the dogs kept him inside for almost three years!!    He was getting older and the couple assumed that he was simply becoming an indoor cat.

The following August, there was a night that the husband didn’t come home.    The house was instantly filled with friends that Mr. Q knew… and many other people he didn’t.    In the days to follow, Mr. Q was lost in the shuffle during the day but then was a constant companion at night, often sitting and listening as the wife and boys confided in him with their tears.      

The husband never returned.    The wife and boys remained, and their friends were always around.     Mr. Q became accustomed to having neighbor friends at the house as well as the wife’s friends, who would come and talk for hours and hours.

Mr. Q was always welcoming old and new friends to the house.    He had quite a knack of knowing who was allergic to cats.   The allergic guests were the ones he seemed to like the best. 

It appeared that Mr. Q was getting older and the wife assumed that he had become an indoor cat, after the dog incident.    But surprisingly, almost two years later…. Mr. Q ventured outside!    He would make his rounds outside and then sit and enjoy the sunshine.         The spring and summer months were his favorites.   Once the cold weather hit, he preferred staying inside where it was warm.    The wife assumed that his old bones were affected by the weather just like human bones so she made sure he was warm and cozy during the cold months.

2010

One warm summer day, the wife and boys brought home…. A cat!     It took months for Mr. Q to accept the new cat as a member of the family.   It was a girl cat, much younger than he.    

August 2011

After Mr. Q got used to the idea of her being around, he was very tolerant of her attention.     The girl cat was never as dog-like as Mr. Q, but he grew to enjoy her company.   Every so often the wife and boys would discover the two cats cuddled up napping next to each other.   Other times, Mr. Q would show his authority and have stare downs and swatting contests with the young cat.    He was always prepared to defend his rank in the home.

For almost four years the three people and two cats lived happily in the house together.   

The cats would eat meals together, make their rounds outside, and sit in the sunshine.     They even got in the habit of napping indoors while the people were away and then venturing outside until dark.

The two cats were often bribed to cross the street and visit with neighbours who enjoyed giving them treats and attention.   
When his family would go out of town, family and neighbor friends would care for the cats.
As far as cat lives go, they were loved and spoiled rotten.   

 

Somewhere along the line, Mr. Q was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid.   The wife and boys had to give him pills each day to keep things in check.    Mr. Q was super about taking the pills.   The people would smash a pill between two treats and Mr. Q was faithful about taking them.

One day, the wife packed up Mr. Q and took him for a short ride.   These short rides always resulted in a trip to the vet… which Mr. Q hated.     The loveable, friendly Mr. Q who knew no strangers quickly turned into a ‘cat from hell’ whenever he entered the veterinarian’s exam room.     The vet and her technicians didn’t know the cat that the wife and the boys knew.    They knew a cat who had special handling instructions in his file.   He was vicious and they took extra precautions with him during every visit.  
As suspected, during this visit the people confirmed that Mr. Q had cancer.    
Mr. Q obviously didn’t know what that was or what the result would be.
He continued to lounge around the house, be a companion to the family, make his rounds outdoors and sit in the sunshine.

The wife and boys knew that Mr. Q’s time was short.     Mr. Q was suddenly allowed on furniture that had been off-limits for years.     He was living it up.   

March 2015

The people could see how Mr. Q’s body was failing… but Mr. Q still did his normal cat things.    He would pick at the wife’s mattress every morning when it was time for breakfast.    He and the girl cat would circle the wife’s feet at every meal time until they were fed.    They were like a little cat gang, in cahoots with each other.     
The wife and boys still confided in Mr. Q about many things.    He was an important part of the family.

Months passed.  More than anticipated.   But the time had come, and the first day of fall would be Mr. Q’s last day with the family.
He spent the afternoon outside, sitting in the sunshine.     

September 23, 2015